E. L. "Buster" Thigpen
U.S. Navy May 26, 1941 - January 15, 1947
This is a story of a small town boy whose father was a fanner and World War I Veteran.
I was born January 16, 1924, the son of James Paul Thigpen and Nettie Etheridge Thigpen. I
graduated from Saratoga High School in 1941. At graduation I was recognized and given a
small medal for being the first person to graduate with 11 years of perfect attendance.
On Friday after graduation, my father took me to Raleigh to the Recruiting Station. I was
given mental and physical examinations. Late in the afternoon, a recruiter came out and said,
"The men whose name I call will need to be here on Monday moming at 9:00 to be sworn into
the Navy." My name was not called. As soon as he finished his remarks, I asked him why my
name was not called. He said, "Son, you passed the mental exam and physical exam except you
are 2lbs. too light. Go home and eat hearty and gain 2 lbs., come back and I will accept you into
the Navy." I said, "Sir, I want to go with this group that I have met here today. If! come back -.
Monday and weigh 1 1SIbs., can I go with them?" He said, "Well, you can come, but you can't
gain 21bs. in two days." I told him I would be there on Monday morning to go.
On Monday moming, I ate a big breakfast and left home. At Saratoga, I asked my dad to
stop at the general store where I bought 3lbs. of bananas and a quart of milk. At the city limits
of Raleigh, I ate the bananas and drank the quart of milk. When I got inside the recruiting office,
the man said, "Are you back here again?" I said "Yes sir". He said, "Take off your clothes and
get on that scale". He set the scales at 11SIbs. and told me to get on. I stepped on the scales and
the balance beam bmnped the top. He said, "Get off, I'm sending your butt to the Navy."
After my first train ride, I arrived at the Norfolk, Virginia Training base at 8:00 at night.
Some of the men told the petty officers they were hungry. He said he would go see if they had
anything at the mess hall. He came back and said they could feed us a bowl of soup and an
apple. When we lined up at the mess hall, the man next to me asked me what kind of soup it
was. I told him I didn't know. When we sat down, I tasted it and I could eat it. I asked another
what it was and he said it was clam chowder. I had never eaten and didn't know what it was.
After finishing eight weeks of basic training, we were given an opportunity to state which branch of the Navy we would like to serve in. I asked for Navy Air Force, and he said ok, we
have some openings there. I was sent to the Naval Air Station at Norfolk, Virginia There I went
to Aviation Machinist School. While there, I was assigned to VS-8 squadron which was attached
to the U.S.S. Hornet, which was almost completed at New Port News Shipyard. When the ship
was finished in January of 1942, we took it on a shakedown cruise to South America.
On our return to port at Norfolk, much to our surprise, there were two B-25 Army
bombers sitting on the dock. They were lifted upon the flight deck of the ship and we returned tosee about 50 miles and they launched the two planes from the Hornet with no problems. The
ship then set sail for South America and went through the Panama Canal to the Pacific Ocean
and from there, to Alameda, California and docked at the Air station. There we took on 16 Army
B-25 bombers and set sail into the Pacific Ocean. On the third day out, we were told that we had
Army Air Force Colonel James Doolittle on board, to lead America's first attack on the Japanese
homeland. On April 18th , we were spotted by a Japanese Patrol boat and immediately opened
fire and sank it. That was our first taste of combat. We then launched the sixteen planes without
mishap. I was assigned to the 11 th plane as Navy helper to crew chief Melvin Gardner. These
sixteen planes were the first to attack and bomb the Japanese homeland. One of these pilots was
Ted W. Lawso~ who wrote "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo."
After returning to Pearl Harbor and taking on supplies, we set sail for Wake Island where
we launched our first strike on the Japanese. .W e went through nineteen battles and engagements
before we were attacked and sank on October 26, 1942 in the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands.
America had lost the carriers Yorktown and the Wasp, which I saw both sank in separate battles.
I was picked up at sea by the destroyer Hughes and taken to New Caledonia It was fourteen
days before we were rescued by a troop ship and taken to California.
After being issued new clothing, I was given a thirty day R&R leave. I spent Christmas
of 1942 at home in Saratoga. I reported back to Naval Air Station at Alameda, California and
from there I went to North Island Air Station in San Diego, California While there, I helped set
up a new carrier squadron for the new Yorktown CV-10. After serving fifteen more months in
the South Pacific, I was transferred off the Yorktown and boarded the troop ship, Henry Bergh
for a trip back to the states. On June 6th, 1944, as we were entering the San Francisco Bay, we
were hit by a torpedo from a submarine that sank our ship. We could see the automobile
headlights crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. We were rescued by the Coast Guard Cutters from
the Harbor. After being rescued and issued new uniforms and gear, I was given another thirty
day R&R, after which I was assigned to a new air base in Oceana, Virginia. I was the 13 th
person assigned to this new base. I served as head of the Inspection Department until I was
honorably discharged on January 15, 1947.
E.L. Thigpen
A.M.M. 11C U.S. Navy